Congratulations to the Rochester Lancers. They scored. They wanted to generate a buzz by offering former NBA star Allen Iverson a contract, and thanks to a loosely worded press release detailing the $20,000-per-game/$5,000-per-goal offer that made it seem like they were inviting him to play for them, it worked. But this was more of a desperate attempt to be relevant, not a generous offer to help someone in financial trouble.

However, here’s the reality of our rush-to-report it world: No one actually did any reporting before running with the story, not even the folks from the almighty World Wide Leader of Sports, ESPN. Bloggers posted about it and the same TV guys who argued two months ago about Tim Tebow debated if Iverson could play soccer. Because Monday was a slow news day – a brief respite from Linsanity – the Iverson story got some run. But he never was going to play for the Lancers. The Major Indoor Soccer League’s roster-deadline freeze has passed. “Can’t play. He will not play,” Lancers co-owner Salvatore “Soccer Sam” Fantauzzo said in a radio interview Saturday morning, only a couple of hours after the press release showed up in inboxes all over the country.

If anyone had bothered to call the Lancers to ask how legit this was they would have been told that, and this story wouldn’t have blown up. The only reason it did: a) Media/bloggers thought Iverson was invited to play, not just show up as an “honorary captain,” as Fantauzzo put it; b) Media didn’t do any reporting.

“Maybe it doesn’t say that properly in the press release but then we wouldn’t have gotten the attention we’re getting,” Fantauzzo said on the air. “It might make you think that, but that’s the beauty of marketing.”

It was clever, thought, wasn’t it? In a way, Fantauzzo was smarter than the media. At least the Lancers didn’t go public before getting some feedback from Iverson’s reps. That makes it all a bit more legit. The wheels are still turning on this, too. If Iverson’s people shock everyone and say he’s showing up to do an appearance at Thursday or Sunday’s home games or even a playoff game in March at the Blue Cross Arena at the War Memorial, this WILL be a story – a big one. It’ll probably make SportsCenter. But in all likelihood he won’t play. The MISL would have to grant the Lancers some special roster waiver, and in the gimmicky world of minor-league sports maybe that injustice would happen. But it’d be a dangerous precedent to set by a once-proud league that’s trying to capture the attention of fans in the seven MISL cities and beyond.

That has been my issue with this all along. Forget that the offer mocks a former great athlete who reportedly has fallen on hard financial times. For more than a year we’ve been told the MISL “is the top indoor league in the world.” In fact, it is. But if that’s the case, why bring in the circus? “To get non-soccer fans, the casual fans, to a game,” is what the Lancers will tell you. But all this does is cheapen league’s image. It cries out “minor league” when you’ve shouted all along “major.” Yes, more people are talking about this and the Lancers, but it won’t translate to ticket sales (unless Iverson accepts, making this actual news). This also has to be a distraction to Lancers players, who are trying to clinch their first playoff berth. More Iverson talk, less Wichita Wings (this week’s foe).

The national attention this received stunned me, but it speaks to Iverson’s reach and sad tale. It has everything to do with that and nothing to do with indoor soccer. The attention hasn’t all been good, either.

The Bleacher Report: “This is one of the reasons that soccer will never be respected in this country. … Even if this turns out to be a publicity stunt or joke, it is one still of the most disgraceful and disrespectful things that one team could do to the sport that they play. To basically say that just because Iverson is a great athlete (and he is) that he could pick up a ball with little to no preparation or as far as we know knowledge of indoor soccer (which is very different than outdoor 11 vs 11) and help this team in its playoff bid is ludicrous. The Lancers front office should be ashamed.”

Yahoo sports blog:“Let’s call this offer what it is: a publicity grab by a team in a minor sports league looking to get as much attention as possible. There’s no way they can expect Iverson to take this deal. Disregard all the talk about helping Iverson stay in the United States or hosting his friends — the Lancers are exploiting a great athlete’s name recognition and dire circumstances in the hope of getting some extra money.”

The Root (blog):“Iverson’s status as a world-class athlete isn’t in question. His quickness and toughness easily could have transferred to several sports, including soccer, football and baseball. But (Lancers VP Rich) Randall can’t be serious in suggesting that Iverson could be anything but a publicity stunt. It’s an insult to players on the Lancers and other MISL teams, who earn a fraction of the money offered to Iverson. That’s no way to earn credibility for “an exciting and growing sport.”

The Lancers said they reached out to NFL types because if they make the playoffs their home game would be on Monday, March 12 and they thought “Monday Night Football” theme. But haven’t received any commitments, but they’ll keep trying, so stay tuned. Below is ESPN’s “First Take” on all this.

LUBO ON MLS TRYOUT: With all the attention on the Lancers’ Iverson quest, something that’s really relevant has gone under-reported. Rookie midfielder Lubo Kocic, 26, is trying out for the Houston Dynamo (MLS) this week and is expected back for Thursday’s match. Pretty impressive for the kid, who is third on the team in points with 18 goals and seven assists.

PIZZOLITTO CUT, BUT MONTREAL SIGNS SEBRANGO: This next item only makes me happy all the way around. The Montreal Impact announced it has cut longtime defender and cheapshot artist, Nevio Pizzolitto, 35, because new coach Jesse Marsch doesn’t think he has the chops to cut in MLS with the expansion Impact. Hooray. The guy sucker-punched Lenin Steenkamp once at halftime of a playoff match at Frontier Field and Rhinos fans will never forget that. In other news, despite not playing last year, ageless former Impact star and Rhinos forward Eduardo Sebrango has signed with the Impact, whom he played seven seasons for. Good for the 38-year-old Sebrango, who has always been as classy off the field as he has been effective on it with 103 goals, 31 assists in 270 games in America’s second division. Here’s a link to the story. Here’s another to this afternoon’s update with Sebrango officially signing. When the Rhinos traded Sebrango after his lone, six-goal season here in 1999 for a younger and faster Jamel Mitchell of Hershey, it was thought that Rochester got the better of the deal. Oh, how wrong that was. Sebrango went to win two titles with Vancouver and two with Montreal while also helping Hershey reach the A-League final in 2001 after being on Rochester’s 2000 title team. That’s FIVE rings.

Jeff DiVeronica has covered professional soccer and the Rhinos for the Democrat and Chronicle since the team's inception in 1996. "Devo's Direct Kicks" takes aim mostly at Rochester soccer, but will also highlight the USL, MLS and U.S. national team play. Devo, his nickname since college at St. John Fisher, also hosts two weekly radio shows each Saturday on WHTK-AM/FM (1280/107.3 or www.whtk.com). "Kick This!" (11 a.m.) features soccer talk, while the Canandaigua National Bank High School Sports Show (noon) covers Section V sports. E-mail Jeff at jdiveron@DemocratandChronicle.com.
Or follow him on Twitter: @RocDevo